What do you think of when someone says the word "prostitute"? To be perfectly honest, I grew up in a small town, and it was a word that was avoided - in my life, in my school, in my home. We were far from what Americans would consider rich, but we were always well provided for. I knew people existed who were homeless, people who felt that they had to go to extremes to survive sometimes, but I never thought about it. It was always one of those "not here, not people I know" things.
Last night a memory emerged though, as a friend picked out a song from my childhood to play on his ipod. Reba McIntyre's Fancy. I never knew why I liked it as a child, but I was singing its lyrics long, long before I ever had a clue what they meant. When I heard it last night, though, the power of what it meant fell like stones in my stomach.
About a year ago, God awakened me to a passion for people on the streets, for women who feel like they are not worth anything more, for people who are trifficked. Last night, He gave me proof that the verses that I have grown up knowing are so much more than real. He showed me that before I ever even knew what a real relationship with Him was, He was creating in me a passion and a love for the people He was calling me to.
We are called to love all people. God is calling all of His creation back to Himself, and He has a purpose for each of us. How can anyone imagine differently?
"My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Psalm 139:15-16
"And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:27-28
"Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction." - John F. Kennedy
Tuesday, August 14
Sunday, April 22
"Enough"... what does this word mean?
Tonight I looked back at 3 years ago while I was in China, and I discovered a word study done on the words "total trust." From my friends I received responses such as absolute, without fail, committed to the care of another; and then there were the responses that I can't forget. "Opening yourself to be vulnerable and believing that only good can come of it." "Trust is walking off of a cliff knowing that one of two things will happen: 1)you'll sprout wings and fly, or 2)there will be a trampoline at the bottom of the cliff waiting to catch you."
In a time and place where I could do absolutely nothing else, I learned what it meant to fully rely on and have TOTAL TRUST in my Savior. Now, I find myself at college again, and stressed as the semester draws to a close. Stressed with work, stressed with school, stressed over the fact that there is NEVER enough time to spend with my friends or with God. sigh.
And tonight all God has said, in every email or blog I have read, is "enough." Hiding in the shadow of my wings is enough. So what does this word mean? A few different places I stumbled upon in looking it up in the Bible is Joel 2 (v.19) and Haggai 1 (v.6). Reading the two of these in context caught my attention. In Joel, the Lord tells His people to return to Him, and when they do, he pours out "grain, new wine and olive oil, enough to satisfy you fully." In Haggai, the people are searching for any other way to be filled other than in God Himself, and God "called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands." The same exact things that He pours out in Joel, He withholds in Haggai.
Grain makes bread, right? And wine in the Old Testament is the choice drink for celebration? In the New Testament, Jesus Himself becomes these. If we choose to turn to Him, He IS our bread, our wine, ENOUGH to satisfy us fully.
Have you ever sat at a wedding and watched the bride and groom walk down the aisle and all you knew was that the whole moment was beautiful? It was filling? It just seemed right? Do we make time to have those moments with Jesus. There is so much He wants to tell us. How often do we let Him be ENOUGH??
"How priceless is Your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of Your wings. They feast on the abundance of Your house; You give them drink from Your river of delights. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light."- Psalm 36:7-9
Tonight I looked back at 3 years ago while I was in China, and I discovered a word study done on the words "total trust." From my friends I received responses such as absolute, without fail, committed to the care of another; and then there were the responses that I can't forget. "Opening yourself to be vulnerable and believing that only good can come of it." "Trust is walking off of a cliff knowing that one of two things will happen: 1)you'll sprout wings and fly, or 2)there will be a trampoline at the bottom of the cliff waiting to catch you."
In a time and place where I could do absolutely nothing else, I learned what it meant to fully rely on and have TOTAL TRUST in my Savior. Now, I find myself at college again, and stressed as the semester draws to a close. Stressed with work, stressed with school, stressed over the fact that there is NEVER enough time to spend with my friends or with God. sigh.
And tonight all God has said, in every email or blog I have read, is "enough." Hiding in the shadow of my wings is enough. So what does this word mean? A few different places I stumbled upon in looking it up in the Bible is Joel 2 (v.19) and Haggai 1 (v.6). Reading the two of these in context caught my attention. In Joel, the Lord tells His people to return to Him, and when they do, he pours out "grain, new wine and olive oil, enough to satisfy you fully." In Haggai, the people are searching for any other way to be filled other than in God Himself, and God "called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands." The same exact things that He pours out in Joel, He withholds in Haggai.
Grain makes bread, right? And wine in the Old Testament is the choice drink for celebration? In the New Testament, Jesus Himself becomes these. If we choose to turn to Him, He IS our bread, our wine, ENOUGH to satisfy us fully.
Have you ever sat at a wedding and watched the bride and groom walk down the aisle and all you knew was that the whole moment was beautiful? It was filling? It just seemed right? Do we make time to have those moments with Jesus. There is so much He wants to tell us. How often do we let Him be ENOUGH??
"How priceless is Your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of Your wings. They feast on the abundance of Your house; You give them drink from Your river of delights. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light."- Psalm 36:7-9
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